June 03rd, 2017
Tag: manhattan
The Final Chapter for Steve Ditko
The legendary Steve Ditko passed away late last month (found unresponsive in his Midtown apartment on June 29, 2018) but reports of his death reached the world only yesterday (July 6, 2018). He was ninety years old.
Rest in Peace Dear Sir. Thank you for your amazing work!
The Final Chapter – Art by Steve Ditko (1927-2018)
School Trip
Normally a yellow school bus would not be associated with a luxury luggage brand but, parked as they were in front of a shop with a pile of suitcases stuck outside, they reminded me of those no work-just play school trip days away from classrooms and homework. Happy times!
June 3rd, 2017
”A good start is half the journey”
A lot of advertising of that period would, in one way or another, be considered inappropriate or offensive by today’s standards. But, make no mistake: the Cream of Wheat Chef knows exactly what every boy and girl needs and serves it with a smile!
Edward V. Brewer (1883-1971)
“A Good Start is Half the Journey”
Cream of Wheat advertisement, 1926
Museum of American Illustration, Permanent Collection
Oil paint on canvas
Apparently Emery Mapes, one of the owners of the Diamond Milling Company that produced Cream of Wheat, preferred to hire local talent rather than nationally known illustrators. So, from 1911 to 1926, St. Paul native Edward Brewer was the dominant hand in advertising the porridge. This work, done at the end of his tenure with the cereal maker, typifies the homespun ethos the company wished to convey to the general public, something at which Brewer showed great skill. It was Mapes who originated the concept of ”Rastus” the chef, the logo which had from 1890 to the 1920s appeared as a woodcut image. Brewer developed the image that we see here. It is believed to be the face of a Chicago chef, Frank L. White, who received $5 to model in his chef’s garb and which remains the face of Cream of Wheat today.
The Society of Illustrators
June 3rd, 2017
The Society of Illustrators Annual Student Competition 2017
A jury of professional peers including illustrators and art directors have chosen the most outstanding works created by college level illustration and animation students throughout the year. Pieces are accepted based on the quality of technique, concept and skill of medium used. After reviewing 8.082 submissions, only 220 were selected for this year’s exhibition and 25 have received financial awards.
The works were on view between May & June 2017; these images are but a fraction, just enough to get an idea. Individual styles, different types of media, several Art Schools, all sharing a common quality: it was hard to believe these works were created by students, not professionals.
Carina Chong, F is for Fox
Gouache and pencil, Pratt Institute, Instructor: Pat Cummings
Mei Kanamoto, Insignificant Others
Silkscreen on paper, Parsons School of Design, Instructors: Jordin Isip and Steven Guarnaccia
Amanda Chung, The Fool
Mixed media, Parsons School of Design, Instructors: Jordin Isip
Kyoosang Choi, Illusion
Acrylic and oil on panel, School of Visual Arts, Instructors: Thomas Woodruff and TM Davy
Oh, look! Steadman was here! 
Varvara Nedilska, The Collector
Watercolour and gouache, OCAD University, Instructor: Jon Todd
Clarissa Liu, Felt Tattoo
Felt, Rhode Island School of Design, Instructor: Melissa Ferreira
Nina Charuza, Train
Acrylic, California College of the Arts, Instructor: Bob Ciano
Mack Muller, Sax man
Monoprint, Syracuse University, Instructor: James Ransome
June 3rd, 2017
That’s The Spirit…!
Of being an old soul but never wanting to grow up.
The Spirit: ”Il Duce’s Locket” page 1
May 25, 1947
Ink on paper
P’Gell, a femme fatale with an impossibly narrow waist, was among the more prominent and persistent in a series of beautiful criminals in Eisner’s long-running Spirit. P’Gell, though a deadly adversary couldn’t shake her love interest in The Spirit. He seldom returned her affectionate overtures. P’Gell was named after the Quartier Pigalle, the notorious red light district of Paris
The Spirit: ”Quirte” seven-page story
November 21, 1948
Ink on paper
The Spirit: ”John Lindsay’s Mayoral Race”, five-page story
New York Herald Tribune magazine (January 9, 1966)
Will Eisner and Chuck Kramer
Ink on paper with wash
Will Eisner had not drawn a new Spirit story since 1952 when the New York Herald Tribune’s Sunday magazine contacted him in late 1965 to create a story based on the city’s mayoral election. The lettering (done on clear acetate) is missing from the original pages, but the story can be read on the smaller reproductions of the published version.
Portrait of Will Eisner by The Spirit
circa 1985
Ink on paper
Spirit Magazine #20 cover art
1979
Ink with watercolour on board
Samples of Eisner’s used pens and brushes
Jules Feiffer script for unpublished Spirit Story
1952
manuscript
Smash Comics #8: ”Espionage”, page 3
1940
Ink on paper
This original ”Espionage” page on display is among a very small handful of Will Eisner’s surviving comic book pages from the 1930s when the Eisner & Iger Studio ”packaged” stories for client publishers. During that period (and later) publishers routinely destroyed original art after publication. Decades before organized fandom saw value in both vintage comics and art, publishers saw no reason to save such ”production” material. As a result, original art from the comic book industry’s early years is extremely rare.
Portrait of a Nude Woman
1936
Oil on stretched canvas
A teen-aged Will Eisner painted this model while attending life drawing classes at the Art Students League in New York. Eisner’s disapproving and practical mother was shocked to learn that her young son was painting naked women and she discouraged him from pursuing art, a career she felt would be unremunerative. Eisner’s father, who when younger had aspired to be an artist, quietly gave his son encouragement.
Late Train
New York City lithograph series
1988
Ink with watercolour on board
Turf War
New York City lithograph series
1988
Ink with watercolour on board
A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories: ”The Super”, ten-page excerpt
1978
Ink on vellum, adhered to board
Images from WILL EISNER: The Centennial Celebration 1917-2017, a retrospective comprising over 150 pieces of artwork, graphic novel sequences, original pages of The Spirit and Mr. Eisner’s personal items. The exhibition was curated by Denis Kitchen and John Lind and ran between March & June 2017 at the Society of Illustrators. It was the largest Eisner exhibition ever in the United States and made me very happy indeed.
June 3rd, 2017
Saturated
In every possible way (#times_square #twilight_zone #no_filter #that’s_one_pair_of_legs_too_many)
June 2nd, 2017
Art / Not Art
1/ Vik Muniz’s part of a larger work ”Perfect Strangers”, 72nd Avenue Subway Station.
2/ Jeff Koons’ inflatable seated ballerina, on view at Rockefeller Center in May-June 2017.
Two balloons. One of them, a work of art.
June 2nd, 2017
Light / Tunnel
You don’t have to reach the end to see it.
72nd St. Subway Station
June 2nd, 2017
Rooftop book-reading
If you let your mind drift, your eyes will follow.
European Literature Night @ The Bohemian National Hall
June 2nd, 2017
The Humble Fabulist 